The 65th Anniversary of the Independence Day of Sri Lanka was celebrated on 04th February 2013 at the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Beijing with the participation of Embassy staff and the Sri Lankan community in China.
The ceremony began with the hoisting of the National Flag by Ambassador Ranjith Uyangoda and the singing of the National Anthem. Two minutes silence was observed to commemorate national heroes. This was followed by the traditional lighting of the oil lamp by the Ambassador, Embassy staff, manager of Sri Lankan Airlines, representative of CRI (China Radio International), a senior member of the Sri Lanka community, representatives of the Sri Lanka Youth Forum in China and the students from Tianjin Medical University. Buddhist, Hindu, Islam and Catholic religious observances were conducted by religious dignitaries.
The Independence Day messages of H.E. the President, the Hon. Prime Minister and the Hon. Minister of External affairs were read out in Sinhala, Tamil and English and copies of the messages were also made available to all the invitees.
The Ambassador addressed the gathering and outlined the political and socio-economic development taking place in the country under the leadership of H.E. the President and as articulated in the Mahinda - Chinthana way forward. In his speech the Ambassador also referred to the excellent bilateral relations that exist between Sri Lanka and China.
Embassy of Sri Lanka
Beijing
06 February 2013
